Socialist planning played an enormous role in the economic and political history of the twentieth century. Beginning in the USSR it spread round the world, and influenced economic institutions and policy in countries as varied as Bulgaria, the United States, China, Japan, India, Poland and France. Now in its third edition, this textbook is fully updated, and provides an overview of socialist planning, explains its underlying theory and limitations, looks at its implementation in various sectors of the economy, and places developments in their historical context, including the collapse of the USSR. A new chapter analyses how socialist planning worked in the defence-industrial complex.